‘No Going Back on Igbo Quit Notice’ – Arewa Youths

After a meeting with a former Governor of Abia State, Chief Uzor Kalu in Abuja on Tuesday, the coalition of Northern Youths Group said that the October 1, 2017 ultimatum given to Igbo living in the North to vacate the zone remained.

The leader of the coalition made up of 16 different groups, Mr Shettima Yerima, said though the groups in the coalition had held meetings on the ultimatum, they had yet to lift the quit notice.

Addressing a joint press conference with Kalu and some leaders from the South-East, Yerima admitted that talks were underway to review their initial position, Punch writes.

“I do not also remember specifically saying we are going to finally withdraw the quit notice. No, certainly not. We have not,” he said.

“But we said, within the week, we are going to make a statement.”

He however restated his belief in the oneness of Nigeria, saying the country’s unity has been under threat recently.

“It is only those who are blind that will say the unity of this country is not being threatened,” he said.

“To us, we strongly believe that Nigeria is for us and Nigeria belongs to everybody and we are all equal in this project.

“We will not in any way accept anybody who wants to undermine the unity of this country. We want those who want to remain and who believe in the unity of Nigeria to remain.

“But for those who don’t, they are free to go to their Biafra and stay there. For us, we want Nigeria and will remain in Nigeria.”

Meanwhile, Kalu called on southerners living in the north not to entertain any fear, while urging northerners to embrace restructuring.

“Restructuring does not mean breaking the country. There are certain things we have outgrown. We need to address the issue of how our economy should be run so that the masses, the poor people will benefit from efforts of government,” he said.